Morning Report — Harris, Trump battle for turnout and triumph 

In today’s issue:

• Election `24 hangs on turnout
• Vance courts undecided voters
• Trump seeks to dismiss Justice prosecution
• Middle East cease-fire talks resume

In the final sprint of a historic presidential election, Vice President Harris’s biggest challenge has become turnout. 

Her messages about abortion rights, warnings about what former President Trump would do in the White House, her campaign’s expensive ads and roster of celebrities are meant to overcome her biggest hurdle: rounding up enough votes by Tuesday to top the campaign’s estimate that Trump will get 48 percent everywhere. 

To win, Harris has to round up a diverse coalition that in key states appears to be lagging behind her party’s performance in 2020, according to polls. Trump’s goal is to turn out his loyal base with additions from Black and Latino men.

The New York Times: Harris and Trump are tied at 48 percent in the latest Times/Siena College national poll. The electorate appears deadlocked to the end.

In a star-studded rally outside Atlanta Thursday night, Harris’s campaign drew its largest crowd of the cycle with help from fan favorites in hopes of mobilizing voters. The Washington Post noted that Bruce Springsteen assailed Trump as “an American tyrant.” Former President Obama said Trump “acts goofy” but that doesn’t mean his presidency wouldn’t be “dangerous.” Filmmaker Tyler Perry said in Trump’s America, “there is no dream that looks like me.” 

The Wall Street Journal: Harris, Obama and celebrities target Black and Hispanic men as their support lags.

The Hill: Harris’s apparent struggle to lock up support among young male voters has raised alarms inside her party. In a close contest where every ballot is needed, Harris nevertheless boasts a big edge among younger voters.

Trump, who campaigned in Las Vegas Thursday and said Harris “wants to turn our military woke,” is working to hold down his opponents’ support in swing states by attacking her in unflinchingly personal terms, dominating headlines and reprising vows to close U.S. borders, deport migrants and shut down Justice Department investigations aimed at him, if elected.  

The vice president and the former president today will each make appearances In Texas, a red state Trump is expected to win overwhelmingly. Harris’s topic du jour in Houston is reproductive rights in a state with one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country. Superstar Beyoncé, who grew up in Houston and loaned her song “Freedom” to the Harris campaign,will join the vice president during her rally today and perform.

Campaigning in Republican territory is part of a strategy to break through news media clutter to reach audiences far afield of Texas as early voting continues ahead of Election Day.

Democrats hope public opposition to a patchwork of state bans and the post-Roe debate about what Harris laments as a loss of fundamental rights will drive voters, especially women, to the polls by Nov. 5. 

Trump, who will appear in Austin, Texas, today will revisit his anti-migrant, pro-border security themes. He vows, if given another term, to invoke the 18th century Alien Enemies Act to enable mass deportations, which experts predict would face a long road through the courts. Trump, speaking Thursday in Arizona, described the United States as “like a garbage can for the world” while discussing immigration.

SMART TAKE FROM THE HILL’S BOB CUSACK:

There is a huge topic that Trump and Harris are ignoring on the campaign trail. And it’s a huge threat to the future of America: the nation’s record-level debt.

A quarter-century ago, the U.S. had a surplus, but the debt level now is approaching $36 trillion. Congress and recent presidents have neglected what many say is a national security threat. 

In 1997, then-Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) and then-President Clinton struck a massive deal on spending reforms and the Balanced Budget Act was approved overwhelmingly on Capitol Hill. But the days of bipartisan sweeping reforms are seemingly over.

The Hill’s Alexander Bolton recently reported that Trump has proposed $8 trillion in tax cuts over the next decade. The former president would offset that with only $900 billion in revenue from reversing Biden-era clean energy tax breaks and $4 trillion in new tariffs, according to the nonpartisan Tax Foundation. Harris’s plans would increase the debt by $3.5 trillion over 10 years, experts say. 

Many in both parties also want to increase defense spending in 2025. But they haven’t spelled out their offsets for these hikes. Meanwhile, Medicare and Social Security are on the road to bankruptcy.

Why aren’t lawmakers tackling the debt? Well, it’s politically treacherous, though that’s what our leaders are elected to do — fix hard problems. Voters need to press policymakers more on how they would (realistically) pay for their ambitious projects. 

3 THINGS TO KNOW TODAY:

▪ President Biden today in Arizona will formally apologize on behalf of the government for the country’s role in forcing Indigenous children into boarding schools where many were physically, emotionally and sexually abused and nearly 1,000 died stretching back 150 years until 1969, according to an Interior Department investigation. 

▪ The U.S. might have all the lithium it needs for batteries and tech applications located in ancient brine that dates to the Jurassic period and is buried deep below southern Arkansas, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. 

▪ Here’s how worsening climate threats are jeopardizing American cities environmentally and financially. 

LEADING THE DAY

© The Associated Press | Paul Sancya

Economy, immigration, abortion and the war in Ukraine. Those were among the topics about which GOP running mate Sen. JD Vance of Ohio fielded questions in a Thursday town hall with NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo in Detroit, Mich. Michigan is seen as one of the critical battlegrounds in Trump’s race against Harris, and is also the site of one of the crucial Senate races, and Vance spoke to a room of undecided voters. 

NewsNation and The Hill are both owned by Nexstar. 

Two-thirds of the way through the town hall, Vance received a cold call from his boss.

“I do have a question,” Trump said on speakerphone during the broadcast. “I think it would be quite an interesting one. The answer should be easy. How brilliant is Donald Trump?”

“Well, first of all, sir, this is supposed to be undecided voters,” Vance said, before telling Trump, “of course, you’re very brilliant.”

The Hill’s Niall Stanage has five key takeaways from the town hall.

2024 CAMPAIGN ROUNDUP:

Trump is going all-in on proposed tariffs as a way of lifting the U.S. economy, bucking criticism from think tanks, labor and big business. He expressed interest Monday in tariffs as a substitute for income taxes.

Harris on Thursday taped a podcast interview to air Monday with former NFL player Shannon Sharpe in Atlanta for his show “Club Shay Shay,” according to her campaign. (Target audience for campaign purposes: Sports fans, Black men.)

For years, America’s most iconic gunmakers turned over sensitive customer information to political operatives. Those operatives employed the details to rally firearm owners to elect pro-gun politicians running for Congress and the White House, ProPublica reports.

Political texts have become a campaign cash cow. They are often unwanted, increasingly unhinged and almost always seek money.

A sharp increase in sanctions has spawned a new lobbying industry in Washington. Businesses and governments around the world are attempting to shape the economic penalties by hiring former U.S. officials to leverage their connections.

Strategists are bracing for an October surprise coming in the form of a deepfake that they worry could have a significant impact on the final days of the presidential race, recognizing how advanced AI counterfeiting has become. 

WHERE AND WHEN

• The House will convene a pro forma session at 11 a.m. The Senate will hold a pro forma session at 10:30 a.m.
• The president is in Phoenix and will receive the President’s Daily Brief at 9 a.m. Biden will speak this morning at the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona, his first visit to Indian Country as president. He’ll depart Phoenix this afternoon for Philadelphia, then remain overnight in Wilmington, Del.
• First lady Jill Biden will travel to Fletcher, N.C., to meet with first responders and officials, including Gov. Roy Cooper (D), who are working to help victims of Hurricane Helene’s devastation. The first lady will travel to Fayetteville, N.C., for a political event, followed by an evening political event in Cary, N.C. 
• Candidate schedules this week: Harris today will headline an event in Houston with a focus on her opposition to restrictive abortion laws, such as in Texas, and she will be interviewed by University of Houston professor and podcaster Brené Brown. On Saturday, Harris plans a get-out-the-vote rally in Michigan accompanied by Michelle Obama. Trump today will be interviewed by podcaster Joe Rogan. Trump also will be in Austin, Texas, for a campaign event about border security at midday and he will hold an evening rally in Traverse City, Mich. On Saturday, he’ll campaign at noon in Novi, Mich., and hold a rally in State College, Pa. On Sunday, Trump will stage a New York City campaign event at Madison Square Garden at 5 p.m. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) today is campaigning in Philadelphia, Allentown, Pa., and Scranton, Pa. On Saturday, Walz will campaign in the Navajo Nation and Window Rock, Ariz. He will speak at a Phoenix campaign rally in the evening. On Sunday, the governor will campaign in Nevada, including Las Vegas. Today, Vance will campaign in Raeford, N.C., and hold an evening event in Monroe, N.C. On Saturday morning, the senator will headline an Atlanta rally and appear at an afternoon event in Erie, Pa. 

ZOOM IN

© The Associated Press | Manuel Balce Ceneta

ELECTION INTERFERENCE: Trump on Thursday asked U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to dismiss his federal election interference case by arguing that special counsel Jack Smith was unconstitutionally appointed. The new motion mimics the argument Trump made in Florida, which led a separate federal judge to toss the former president’s documents indictment. 

In July, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon sided with Trump and threw out his federal classified documents case in Florida after determining Smith was not lawfully appointed. 

Speaking Thursday on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show, Trump touted the Supreme Court justices he appointed and vowed to fire Smith if elected in November. 

“We got immunity at the Supreme Court. It’s so easy. I would fire him within two seconds,” he said, referring to justices’ ruling last term that presidents are immune from prosecution for most “official acts” in office. If voters return Trump to the Oval Office, he could pardon himself, vacate pending federal (but not state or local) criminal probes and charges in which he was a defendant and remake the Justice Department.

FOREIGN AGENTS: Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, and Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) asked the Justice Department on Thursday to designate a special counsel to probe Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and former senior White House adviser, for potentially violating a federal law that requires “certain agents of foreign principals who are engaged in political activities” to publicly disclose their ties to a foreign principal. “While on the Saudi government’s payroll, Mr. Kushner is simultaneously serving as a political consultant to former President Trump and acting as a shadow diplomat and political advisor to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and other foreign principals,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter (NBC News). 

▪ The Hill: A Fulton County election official who refused to certify the results of the county’s spring presidential primary election has appealed a state judge’s ruling affirming that Georgia law requires officials like her to certify without delay.

▪ The Hill: An appeals court ruled Thursday that four people charged alongside Trump in his Georgia election racketeering case cannot move their charges from state to federal court. 

▪ Cincinnati Enquirer: A judge with Ohio’s Hamilton County Common Pleas Court on Thursday issued a permanent injunction against the state’s six-week abortion ban, ruling it is unconstitutional because of November’s voter-approved reproductive rights amendment to the state constitution.

▪ NBC News: Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) wrote to Attorney General Merrick Garland suggesting the Justice Department’s interest in Elon Musk’s sweepstakes to encourage voter registration singles out conservatives and ignores liberal giveaways. The department wrote a letter to Musk’s America PAC this week, warning its daily $1 million giveaway to registered voters in battleground states could be illegal under federal law.

ELSEWHERE

© The Associated Press | Nathan Howard, Reuters

CEASE-FIRE TALKS: U.S. and Israeli negotiators are set to travel to Qatar in the coming days to attempt to reach a cease-fire and hostage deal in Gaza, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, pictured above with Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, said Thursday. He also announced plans to send an additional $135 million in aid for Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank and the region.

Qatar and Egypt have acted as mediators between Israel and Hamas during months-long talks that broke down in August. David Barnea, the head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, will travel to Doha on Sunday, according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office. CIA director William Burns will also be present for the talks. Privately, some U.S. officials acknowledge that Netanyahu is waiting to make any serious decisions about the future of the Gaza conflict until he knows who will win the presidential election.

Meanwhile, after suffering a series of blows by Israel, Hezbollah is fighting back, launching ambushes on Israeli troops in Lebanon and ratcheting up drone and missile strikes deeper into Israel.

▪ The New Yorker: Why no real antiwar movement has developed in Israel.

▪ The New York Times: Is Afghanistan’s most-wanted militant now its best hope for change? Western diplomats are shocked — and enticed.

▪ Reuters: European diplomats are preparing to underpin sanctions on Russia anticipating that a return of Trump could undermine Western efforts to isolate Moscow.

OPINION 

■ Beyond Trump and Harris, control of Congress comes down to these races (audio essay), by Michelle Cottle, Ross Douthat and Carlos Lozada, The New York Times.

■ Why do some Black voters support Trump? It’s complicated, by Mary Ellen Klas, columnist, Bloomberg Opinion.

THE CLOSER

© The Associated Press | John Duricka

And finally … 👏👏👏👏 Congratulations to winners of this week’s Morning Report Quiz! We asked for smart guesses about the history of nominations to the Supreme Court.

Here are the savvy readers who went 4/4: Richard E. Baznik, Linda L. Field, Nassib Ghobril, Stan Wasser, Harry Strulovici, Lynn Gardner, Rick Schmidtke, Roseann Stanley, Bill D. Moore, Pam Manges, Jay Rockey, Luther Berg, Robert Bradley, John Trombetti, Steve James, Carmine Petracca and Savannah Petracca.

They knew that President George Washington appointed the largest number of Supreme Court justices from our list.

The Supreme Court expanded to nine justices in 1869.

Six women have been appointed to the Supreme Court (Sandra Day O’Connor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, Amy Coney Barrett and Ketanji Brown Jackson).

While serving as a Delaware senator and member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Joe Biden did not take part in the confirmation process of Supreme Court Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr., who joined the high court in 1972. 

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